Sri Aurobindo
Translations
CWSA.- Volume 5
Part One. Translations from Sanskrit
Section Four.
Bhartrihari. The Century of Life
On Wisdom
What can the extreme wrath of hostile Fate?
The swan that floats in the cool lotus-wood
She from his pleasant mansion can exclude.
His fame remains, in food adulterate1
Who could the better choose, the worse discern.
Fate cannot touch glory that mind can earn.
1 The swan was supposed to have the power of separating milk from water, when the two were mixed.